The viral factor? Unfortunately, the plot to this Hong Kong movie is as uninfectious as it gets. They probably hatched a story just to showcase Nicholas Tse and Jay Chou, who portrayed two long lost brothers who finally meet after their family was torn in two so many years ago. Nicholas was a criminal at large in Kuala Lumpur, while Jay was a cop working with some dreamt up international agency.
The bulletproof factor? The overall plot may be half baked, but after Nicholas being shot in the back countless times and still managed to run, shoot back and survive, it proves a stretch to far for me. Heck, if he’s so invincible, they should rename the movie. I wonder if the script is a product of multiple writers who never collaborated.
The language factor? Everyone speaks their own language. No kidding, Nick speaks exclusively Cantonese, Jay speaks Mandarin (with a smattering of English), their mother in Beijing speaks mandarin, while their father in KL speaks Cantonese only (the crude kind). It’s a novel idea, having everyone speak in their most comfortable language, but not when it starts to affect the plot. I think it went too far when the little sister of both brothers, who goes to our Malaysian Chinese school, chooses to speak to Jay in Cantonese. And you just don’t get that character to character connection.
Toss out all logic and believability, because the producers want you to focus on the action. You can count on these real stunts and not overdependence on CGI to keep your nerves on edge. Yes, the stunt based action scenes are this Hong Kong film’s saving grace.
The KL factor? This was my main reason for watching this. Since Entrapment in the 90s, there weren’t a lot of movies featuring KL like this. Actually none. So it was a thrill watching places I know in KL and Putrajaya where bombs explode, cars crash into Pavilion stores and helicopters chase each other amid the skyscrapers of KL. Yes, if you’re Malaysian you have added incentive to watch.
Two thirds into the movie, I was laughing so hard in the theatre; I think I made a scene. It’s one of those movies that are so bad, it becomes a good comedy. So what does a movie riddled with unrealistic scenarios get from me? A 3/10. If you’re Malaysian, then maybe a bearable 5/10.
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